Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your teacher to encourage students to attend and engage?
How important is student engagement to you view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observation:
In the first class I observed today, 10th grade Biology at North Kingstown High school, Mr. Browne showed a video to introduce a new unit. As I watched students from the rear of the classroom there were many different things going on. Most of the students were watching the video, but after a few minutes some heads went down on the desk. Over the course of the twenty minutes video one girl pulled out her phone and began texting, some students were writing in their agendas or notebooks and a few students began to quietly chat. Mr. Browne walked around the room after about eight minutes and tapped the students with their heads down to get them to sit up and the talkers were asked to pay attention to the video. Mr. Browne moved to the back of the classroom where he could see all the students and monitor their behavior. At the end of the class, Mr. Browne then gave his students about ten minutes to finish working on a packet that is due next class. About half the class was working on the packet, while others were talking, eating, or trying to finish homework for another class. To get everyone back on task Mr. Browne said the packets were due at the end of the class since it looked like almost everyone was done. The students protested and started working on their packets.
In Ms. Parvo’s honors Earth Science class most students were doing their work while she checked homework. A few got distracted and started talking about the changed lunch periods as a result of an altered schedule due to state testing. To bring all students back on task Ms. Parvo walked around the room asking questions about the work being done, answering questions from students and clarifying the assignment. At one point Ms. Parvo stopped the class as a whole and addressed a question that multiple students seemed to have, which brought everyone back to the same page and back to work.
Reflection:
Mr. Browne and Ms. Parvo had different situations and I think they handled the behaviors of their respective students well. Mr. Browne was able to keep his students awake and paying attention to the video and Ms. Parvo kept her students engaged and productively working. In addition to the methods Mr. Browne’s used to keep his students paying attention, I would create a worksheet or set of questions for students to answer from the video to enhance engagement in the material being presented.
Teachers have a variety of ways to keep their students engaged and get their attention, and some methods work better than others. Whatever the methods, I personally believe student engagement is very important and without it students will not be able to successfully understand the material and concepts. With that said, incorporating ways to keep students involved and engaged is very important in my view of how I will teach. In order to do this I will set high expectations for my students at the beginning of the school year, both in behavior and work habits. I will involve my students in identifying these positive behaviors and habits so they feel ownership for them. Practicing these behaviors and habits will help keep students engaged and on task, with reminders given when needed. Other strategies I will employ to encourage student engagement include moving closer to students who are off-task, circulate through the room to check student progress and provide assistance, and establish a set of signals or clues if needed for certain students that will be given when they are off-task.
Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your teacher to encourage students to attend and engage?How important is student engagement to you view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observation:
In the first class I observed today, 10th grade Biology at North Kingstown High school, Mr. Browne showed a video to introduce a new unit. As I watched students from the rear of the classroom there were many different things going on. Most of the students were watching the video, but after a few minutes some heads went down on the desk. Over the course of the twenty minutes video one girl pulled out her phone and began texting, some students were writing in their agendas or notebooks and a few students began to quietly chat. Mr. Browne walked around the room after about eight minutes and tapped the students with their heads down to get them to sit up and the talkers were asked to pay attention to the video. Mr. Browne moved to the back of the classroom where he could see all the students and monitor their behavior. At the end of the class, Mr. Browne then gave his students about ten minutes to finish working on a packet that is due next class. About half the class was working on the packet, while others were talking, eating, or trying to finish homework for another class. To get everyone back on task Mr. Browne said the packets were due at the end of the class since it looked like almost everyone was done. The students protested and started working on their packets.
In Ms. Parvo’s honors Earth Science class most students were doing their work while she checked homework. A few got distracted and started talking about the changed lunch periods as a result of an altered schedule due to state testing. To bring all students back on task Ms. Parvo walked around the room asking questions about the work being done, answering questions from students and clarifying the assignment. At one point Ms. Parvo stopped the class as a whole and addressed a question that multiple students seemed to have, which brought everyone back to the same page and back to work.
Reflection:
Mr. Browne and Ms. Parvo had different situations and I think they handled the behaviors of their respective students well. Mr. Browne was able to keep his students awake and paying attention to the video and Ms. Parvo kept her students engaged and productively working. In addition to the methods Mr. Browne’s used to keep his students paying attention, I would create a worksheet or set of questions for students to answer from the video to enhance engagement in the material being presented.
Teachers have a variety of ways to keep their students engaged and get their attention, and some methods work better than others. Whatever the methods, I personally believe student engagement is very important and without it students will not be able to successfully understand the material and concepts. With that said, incorporating ways to keep students involved and engaged is very important in my view of how I will teach. In order to do this I will set high expectations for my students at the beginning of the school year, both in behavior and work habits. I will involve my students in identifying these positive behaviors and habits so they feel ownership for them. Practicing these behaviors and habits will help keep students engaged and on task, with reminders given when needed. Other strategies I will employ to encourage student engagement include moving closer to students who are off-task, circulate through the room to check student progress and provide assistance, and establish a set of signals or clues if needed for certain students that will be given when they are off-task.